MySports Today

The New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles will face off in the divisional round of the playoffs on Sunday afternoon. It’s a much different feel for the defending Super Bowl Champion Giants in 2008-9. During the 2007-8 playoff run, the Giants needed 3 road playoff wins just to get to the Super Bowl to go up against the undefeated and highly favored New England Patriots. This year, the Giants come in as the #1 seed in the NFC, with a 12-4 record and a 7-1 record at home. The Giants need just 2 home playoff wins to advance to a 2nd consecutive Super Bowl. The only problem – the Eagles are one of the hottest teams in the NFL right now.

Ever since Head Coach Andy Reid benched Donovan McNabb at halftime of the Eagles 36-7 loss to the Ravens, the Eagles have won 5 of 6 games, including a 44-6 drubbing of the Dallas Cowboys on the last game of the season to secure a playoff berth and last week’s 26-14 win over the Vikings in Minnesota where the Eagles defense kept the Vikings scoreless in the 2nd half and proved why they have the 3rd best defense in the NFC. The biggest win during that stretch, however, probably came on December 7th – with a 20-14 win over the Giants at the Meadowlands – the Giants only loss at home this year. In that game, the Eagles were able to control the clock (35 minutes to 25 minutes) as Bryant Westbrook rushed 33 times for 131 yards and a score. The question is, will the Eagles be able to do that again. In the first meeting between the 2 teams in Philadelphia, the Giants defeated the Eagles 36-31 in a back and forth game. Westbrook only had 26 yards rushing and the Giants kept McNabb under 200 hundred yards passing, although he did throw 3 touchdown passes.

Although the Giants will be playing without play-making wide receiver Plexico Burress, the team is as healthy as its ever been this season. The Giants three-headed rushing monster will be in full force and affect on Sunday. Brandon Jacobs – ready. Derrick Ward – ready. Ahmad Bradshaw – ready. When those 3 get locked in – look out. And with a cold and blustery forecast, a solid, bruising rushing game in the windy confines of the Meadowlands is always a good recipe for success.

It should be a good game to watch. There is an intense rivalry between the 2 teams. The Eagles know the Giants and the Giants know the Eagles. You have the McNabb-Manning match-up. The Jacobs-Westbrook match-up. And you have 2 great defenses. Get ready for some grind-it-out, in-your-face football at the Meadowlands on Sunday. Enjoy…

The New York Rangers fell to the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in a shootout on Friday night. The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the 1st period on Paul Mara’s 4th goal of the season. The Sabres tied the game in the 2nd period on Derek Roy’s 15th goal of the season. After a scoreless 3rd period and overtime, the 2 teams faced off in a shootout. The only goal during the shootout came on the first shot – by Sabres Ales Kotalik. Sabres goalie Ryan Miller saved 43 of 44 Rangers shots on goal including 2 key stops in the shootout (Markus Naslund’s shootout shot missed the net), and was the key reason the Sabres were able to come away with the victory. The Rangers have not fared well against good teams of late, and now their hold on the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference is dwindling – they lead the New Jersey Devils by 3 points and each of the Sabres and Hurricanes by 5 points.

Next up for the Rangers is Saturday night’s match-up against the Ottawa Senators – with only 32 points, the Senators are the 2nd-worst team in the Eastern Conference. Hopefully back-to-back games against the Senators and the Islanders (the worst team in the Eastern Conference) are just what the Rangers need to get back on track.

The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Boston Celtics 98-83 at home, allowing the Cavs to stay unbeaten at the Quicken Loans Arena during the 2008-9 NBA season – with a perfect 19-0 record. The Cavs now lead the Eastern Conference by 1 game over the Orlando Magic and 1.5 games over the Boston Celtics. The loss continued the spiraling decline of the Celtics, who have now lost 4 games in a row and 8 of their last 10. Their only 2 wins during the last 3 weeks have come at Sacramento and at home against the Wizards – 2 of the worst teams in the NBA.

Lebron James did just about everything himself on Friday night – 38 points on 13-25 shooting. He made 3 3-pointers and all 9 of his free throws. He had 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocked shots. Most importantly, James hounded Paul Pierce all night long, forcing him into an awful shooting night – just 4 of 15 – and just 11 overall points. The Cavs Anderson Varejao continues to play well in the middle while they wait for Zydrunas Ilgauskas to recover from his ankle injury. Anderson chipped in 14 points and 9 boards for the Cavs.

As for the Celtics, they only had 2 bright spots. Kevin Garnett scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Rajon Rondo dished out 13 assists and had 4 steals. Other than that, the Celtics continued to get little help from the bench, and that’s where the Celtics really put teams during their 2007-8 NBA Championship run. It will be interesting to see how Doc Rivers responds with the recent play. This “older” team doesn’t have that big a window – this year and maybe next year – so Rivers, his staff and his players need to right the ship if they expect to bring multiple NBA titles to Beantown.

Not a good week for Charles Barkley first we find out he gets a DUI, then we find out he told police he was going to get a BJ after he was pulled over and now he has to take a leave from TNT. He has been with TNT since 2000. It was announced that he he will take several weeks off from Inside the NBA on TNT. Barkley has been apologetic since the arrest and now has to deal with some legal issues. Barkley did take a blood test and on Friday the police released the results which showed Barkley was way over the legal limit. This is not the first time Barkley has had legal trouble in May Barkley was sued by Wynne resorts for a $400,000 gambling debt. In 1991 he was also arrest for disorderly conduct after a bar fight.